The lichen flora of Hull, with particular reference to zonal distribution and environmental monitoring

YesThe role of lichens as environmental monitors is widely recognised. Not only are they valuable as indicators of habitat stability and enyironmental continuity, but they are also effectiye in monitoring environmental quality. more particularly air and soil (and more recently water) pollution. In the past. the main role of lichens in this context has been to monitor sulphur dioxide air pollution. especially stable and rising levels (Seaward 1993). Howeyer, it has also been shown that lichens arc effective monitors of falling levels of gaseous sulphur dioxide and indeed of other pollutants. some of which are manifesting themselves as a consequence of the reduction in the former; of particular interest in this respect is the use of lichens to detect and determine the extent of qualitative changes in air pollution such as the impact of acid rain and hypertrophication (Seaward 1997: Seaward & Coppins 2(04)

Annotated checklist of Hongkong lichens

An annotated checklist of the lichens of Hong Kong, based on all available literature reports and specimens, including those recently collected by the authors, is presented. In total, 261 species are reported, of which 176 are new records for Hong Kong, 132 of which are new for China, 43 are new for East Asia, and 27 are new for Asia. The lichen vegetation is mainly tropical, as is shown by the distribution patterns of the identified species: 53 species are cosmopolitan, 40 northern temperate, 122 pantropical, 17 paleotropical and 29 endemic to tropical East Asia. With regard to substrata, 129 species are corticolous, 148 saxicolous, 17 foliicolous and 19 terricolous. Four species are newly described: Anisomeridium conorostratum Aptroot, A. hydei Aptroot, Caloplaca pulicarioides Aptroot and Placidiopsis poronioides Aptroot. The flora is rather poor in species; for example, no Caliciales have been found. In the past, the numbers of species of several groups such as the Graphidaceae, Heterodermia and Xanthoparmelia have been overestimated, whereas few pyrenocarps have been reported. The flora of wet granitic outcrops is surprisingly well developed in Hong Kong. Although not a single Peltula species was reported before, six species were identified, including one that was previously only known from Africa. In addition, several other cyanophilic genera are present, such as Euopsis, Psorotichia, Pyrenopsis and, most unexpectedly, Vestergrenopsis, each with one species. A comparison between old and recent records shows that many Lobarion species are now extinct. The drastic decline of species of the Lobarion vegetation indicates that air pollution and other habitat disturbances, mainly deforestation, to which these species are very sensitive, are seriously threatening the lichen biodiversity of Hong Kong

Field trips, resource visitors, and persons for interview available to the public schools in the towns of Acton and Concord, Massachusetts.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

The lichen flora of the Chagos Archipelago : including a comparison with other island and coastal tropical floras

The 1996 Chagos Expedition provided the first opportunity to study the archipelago’s lichen flora. Seventeen of the 55 islands were ecologically investigated, some in more detail than others, and lists and representative collections of lichens have been assembled for many of them. In all, 67 taxa have been recorded, 52 to specific level. Although the islands have a low biodiversity for cryptogamic plants, as would be expected in terms of their relatively young age, remoteness and small terrestrial surface areas, those taxa that are present are often found in abundance and play significant ecological roles. There is a good correlation between total lichen biodiversity and island size, despite the fact that Cocos nucifera is such an important substratum for cryptogamic plants and its presence on all islands studied provides a consistently high associated species count. Comparisons of lichen floras for ten island and coastal tropical areas show good correlations (based on the Sörensen Coefficient) within the Indian Ocean as would be expected, but poorer correlations exist within and between Pacific Ocean and neotropical floras. Ranked correlations between Chagos and other floras are in the sequence Maldives > Laing Island > Aldabra > Tuamotu > Pitcairn > N.Mariana & Belize > Guadeloupe > Cook. When coefficients are calculated using only the Physciaceae, different correlations and sequences are derived, but the affinities of the Indian Ocean islands remain strong. However, although the lichen flora of Chagos is characteristic for an Indian Ocean, it is dominated by pantropical species

Bryophytes and lichens of Aldabra

Aldabra Atoll, in the Republic of Seychelles, lies 450 km to the north of Madagascar and 650 km to the east of the Tanzanian coast of Africa (9o24’S, 46o20’E). It is one of the largest atolls in the world, with four main islands and numerous islets, totalling 97 km2. The underlying limestone is slightly raised, but is generally less than 8 m in elevation, and varies substantially in texture due to erosion. The atoll has been elevated above sea level for at least 80,000 years. Soils are generally shallow and alkaline (Trudgill 1979). The geology and ecology are outlined in Westoll and Stoddart (1971), Stoddart and Westoll (1979), and Stoddart (1984)

Lichen flora of the West Yorkshire conurbation - Supplement VII (1999-2004)

Ye

Raman spectroscopic analysis of the effect of the lichenicolous fungus Xanthoriicola physciae on its lichen host

YesLichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi have been extensively researched taxonomically over many years, and phylogenetically in recent years, but the biology of the relationship between the invading fungus and the lichen host has received limited attention, as has the effects on the chemistry of the host, being difficult to examine in situ. Raman spectroscopy is an established method for the characterization of chemicals in situ, and this technique is applied to a lichenicolous fungus here for the first time. Xanthoriicola physciae occurs in the apothecia of Xanthoria parietina, producing conidia at the hymenium surface. Raman spectroscopy of apothecial sections revealed that parietin and carotenoids were destroyed in infected apothecia. Those compounds protect healthy tissues of the lichen from extreme insolation and their removal may contribute to the deterioration of the apothecia. Scytonemin was also detected, but was most probably derived from associated cyanobacteria. This work shows that Raman spectroscopy has potential for investigating changes in the chemistry of a lichen by an invading lichenicolous fungus.This work was completed while D.L.H. was in receipt of an award from the Ministerio de Economica y Competitividad of Spain (Proyectos CGL 2014-55542-P)

Advancing Terrorism Threat Assessment: Refining the Evidence Base and Evaluating Practice

The application of threat assessment to counterterrorism is currently held back by the limited evidence base of risk factors that impedes validated assessment tools, and the lack of empirical evaluation of operating threat assessment units. This thesis explores both, using data from multiple UK threat assessment units and a general population survey. First, a systematic review of targeted violence threat assessment implementation culminates in two operationally relevant research priorities for threat assessment of terrorism: refining the evidence base and evaluating practice. For the former, this thesis argues research should disaggregate specific terrorist roles and behaviours, to uncover previously obscured risk factors for more relevant outcomes of concern. One analysis finds value in disaggregating beyond the binary distinction between violent and nonviolent terrorism involvement into more granular roles and behaviours, among those referred to a counterterrorism mental health hub. Another analysis extends this principle to a general population survey measure of violent extremist intentions. Even among this un-radicalised sample, meaningful correlates emerge for different forms of intentions. For the latter, this thesis evaluates the public health approach to threat assessment, both in beneficial outcomes for individuals referred and the relevance of unmet mental health needs to violence prevention. An analysis of the UK’s Fixated Threat Assessment Centre provides an empirical demonstration of adherence to the public health approach by identifying and treating unmet needs. This contrasts with findings for Theseus, a private threat management company, highlighting notable diversity in the grievance-fuelled violence space. Therefore, the final empirical analysis applies this to the counterterrorism context by asking the same questions of a counterterrorism mental health hub. Collectively, these findings show the feasibility and utility of comparing specific terrorist behaviours, and the value of empirical evaluative research into the public health approach’s implementation

The ottoman court in 1682

[ Δε διατίθεται περίληψη / no abstract available